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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29948109">Better than Provisions</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChocoSweets/pseuds/ChocoSweets'>ChocoSweets</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Bakery Orders [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Devil May Cry</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Baking, Comfort Food, Devil May Cry 5 Spoilers, Domestic, Emotional Baggage, Established Relationship, F/M, Feeding, Food as a Metaphor for Love, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Light Angst, M/M, Multi, POV Second Person, Post-Devil May Cry 5, Prompt Fill, Reader-Insert, Romantic Fluff, Tumblr Prompt</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 00:26:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,802</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29948109</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChocoSweets/pseuds/ChocoSweets</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>You help Vergil settle in the human world, helping him get reacquainted with human foods.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Vergil (Devil May Cry)/Reader, Vergil (Devil May Cry)/You</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Bakery Orders [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2199459</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>73</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Better than Provisions</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crimson_Cupcake/gifts">Crimson_Cupcake</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Cupcake Anon requested:</p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p><i>Could I ask for a fluffy reader x Vergil one where they make food for him post underworld? He’s very thin and could do with eating something nice instead of demon meat all the time! I see his dumb face and just want to bake for him.</i><br/>  </p>
</blockquote>Thank you for the request, nonnie! 🥺 I was wanting to do something with Vergil soon too so this came at a perfect time.<p>Send requests <a href="https://forms.gle/MiZoZqePSLne2kLy6">here</a> or <a href="https://chocosweets.tumblr.com/ask">here</a>! 🧁<br/><a href="https://chocosweets.tumblr.com/masterlist">Masterlist</a> 🧁<br/><a href="https://chocosweets.tumblr.com">Tumblr</a> 🧁</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It doesn’t take long after the twins finally come back from Hell for you to start pestering Vergil about eating some actual food. </p>
<p>Dante is no problem, because he had already ordered pizza at one of the payphones before he’d even reunited with the office. But his brother is so much more stubborn about human pleasures like that—it’s been far too long since he’d even tasted a real meal. </p>
<p>He’s too thin from so many years of being on the brink of fading away to nothing. It’s especially obvious when you see Dante’s well-built frame next to his far slimmer one. His waist is trim, and you can see the sharp bones at his clavicle. Even Vergil’s muscles, compared to his brother, are not as defined and beefy—Yamato is elegant and slender, after all, which surely doesn’t help the matter. </p>
<p>It’s been about a week now since they've come back—a week of you shoving leftover pizza in his face that he refuses. All he seems to eat are little sandwiches with his tea or the kinds of raw, fresh fish slices you'd find at a sushi restaurant. Those little snacks look pathetic at best.</p>
<p>You are intent on fixing that. </p>
<p>You conspire with Dante for a little while, during the times when Vergil’s reading at the other end of the shop. Your eyes watch him trace the embossed accents on the cover (the golden title in curly script on the old leather says something like ‘A Tale of Two Cities’) while he flips through the pages. You ask Dante about the things he liked to eat as a child, careful to whisper. Aside from seafood, he has a perchance for meat—and, like his brother, <em> chocolate.  </em></p>
<p>You decide to take him to a diner at first, despite his adamant protests. </p>
<p>“Demons don’t need excessive human sustenance such as this,” he tells you in the hours leading up to your ‘date’ (not that either of you will label it as such). You remind him again that he’s only half. And once it’s nearing lunchtime and you two are about to leave, he insists he’s not hungry. But he walks with you down the narrow streets of Redgrave until you step inside, even if he looks a little embarrassed by the situation. </p>
<p>You’ve been there with Dante and Lady a few times in the past. Like all diners, it has a mix of breakfast and dinner foods, mostly in the typical American variety of dishes. </p>
<p>“C’mon, turn that frown upside-down!” In reality, his mouth is more of a straight, fine line with deep-set creases than a frown. Still, he looks aloof wearing casual clothes—some of Dante’s rare clean ones that you’d stolen for the occasion. The pants fit alright but the shirt is almost a size too baggy on him around the chest and arms. “I know you’ll love it here.”</p>
<p>“...That is a sanguine and <em> foolish </em> wager,” he huffs. But the glint in his eye says he’s eager. </p>
<p>The blonde waitress seats you in the back corner booth of the box-shaped establishment, with a window to one side. Vergil sits at the cushion that’s pressed against the wall, and you slide across from him. </p>
<p>He orders his coffee black. You were counting on tea, but this isn’t all that surprising either. </p>
<p>You get diet cola, but then lower your gaze back to him. “Mmm, Vergil, are you ready to order your food too? We might as well get it all in at once if that’s alright.” The waitress nods, and you half-expect him to not even bother getting anything. </p>
<p>...But, he hums back in approval. </p>
<p><em> Alright </em>. You ask for the cinnamon french toast, always your favorite here with the sweet powdered sugar and spiced maple syrup. </p>
<p>You expect something like the salted caramel crêpes or the medium-rare steak and poached eggs from him, but then—</p>
<p>“—You may get me the double cheeseburger. With the parmesan fries.” He flits the plastic menu closed with finality and hands it back to the waitress. </p>
<p>The deadpan look throughout only puts you at unease. And the tips of his ears are shaded pink, like maybe he expects you to tease him for it. </p>
<p>Mostly, you’re just a little shocked. Out of all the things on the menu—</p>
<p>“—It isn’t polite to stare with your mouth hanging open, dearest.” You hadn’t realized you’d been doing it. He reaches out to caress your cheek oh-so-lightly, brushing a thumb over your lips to close them. He pulls back quick.</p>
<p>“O-Of course— It’s nothing.” You suspect he doesn’t prod into it more because you could very well question his juxtaposed tastes right back. And, maybe that’s fair. But you smile anyway, heart swelling.</p>
<p>You lean over the table on your elbow, studying his features when he glances out the window. His expression softens a little now in the golden sunlight, more than it ever did before. And you think that, perhaps, accepting V as a part of himself has certainly made him freely act more human in more ways than one. </p>
<p>The obvious example being—when he lets go, he has as much of a monstrous appetite as his brother. It isn’t that Vergil goes seeking out the gluttonous pleasures of food like Dante does, but rather it takes more for him to be completely satiated than a simple human. You know he has been holding back still since coming up from the Underworld. </p>
<p>It’s nice to see him bite into both of the thick meat patties stacked high, with a fluffy brioche bun and gooey cheddar cheese that dribbles onto the lettuce leaves. He has his napkin tucked into his collar, too—proper as always. Even eating a messy burger, he looks prim and without causing stains anywhere. (The complete opposite of how you’ve seen his twin pig out.)</p>
<p>You smile back and make small talk whenever Vergil sets his burger down to delicately pop some of the fries into his mouth. </p>
<p>Days pass, and the next logical course of action is dessert. You have chocolate on the brain all throughout your trip to the supermarket gathering ingredients. </p>
<p>You bake while Dante naps like a cat in the front room. Vergil should just be returning from a simple job in a little while. You must work fast, then.  </p>
<p>Something small but decently filling, you decide. The cake batter ends up thick and smooth, pouring over into a circular mold that has one flat side. It’s almost like a cute little snowglobe. </p>
<p>Just as the oven dings, you hear the front doors click open, and then Vergil's soft footfall across the hardwood. A scoff, probably at the way Dante's sleeping with a pizza box still open across his desk. </p>
<p>You peek your head through the kitchen doorway. "Hey— Sit down and I'll be out in a second. I have a little dessert for you." </p>
<p>"...Dessert?" He sounds disbelieving, but you hear the sound of him sitting upon one of the creaky barstools, and then a loud snore from his brother. Vergil huffs again at it, and you giggle as you press the cake out of the mold and onto a clean white dish.</p>
<p>Hot syrupy-frosting has been heating on the stove at a constant temperature, and once it's fairly cool you pour it atop the mini-cake. It semi-hardens, and then you take the chocolate cream you'd also concocted and funnel a nose, some ears, and dark chocolate chips stuck on for eyes. A face and features like a small doe. You smile and search for a silver spoon.</p>
<p>Vergil is wiping off Yamato at the bar counter, a worn blue rag soaked in different colors of blood by the end of it. He doesn't look any worse for wear, just <em> tired </em>. He sheaths it when you enter, hands full. </p>
<p>"Just a little after-dinner, after-battle snack for you. I thought it'd be a good refresher."</p>
<p>"You are very <em> insistent </em> on me indulging in these human pleasures lately." He says it matter-of-factly like a statement, and you can't exactly deny. "However... I have not eaten much today. And I am quite... <em> famished </em>."</p>
<p>So that's a <em> yes </em>. You grin at the softened, almost bashful look on his face.</p>
<p>Your cheeks turn rose as you present the food. He looks at the plate in your hands like a child seeing something for the first time. </p>
<p>His nose twitches as the rich, sweet scent of it. It smells like the halls of the manor he'd once pounced around growing up, at those times when his mother would bake apple pies and meringues for them in the Summertime. Vergil looks on and blinks.</p>
<p>He’s so hesitant to even accept—so used to fending for himself, to doing things on his own without anyone’s help. He is the oldest and has always bore that burden. And now <em> you’re </em> offering food to him. You’re caring for him. He doesn’t have to hunt for grainy demon meat to eat just for energy, and bite through the tough sinew. No blood overflowing or muscle getting caught in his incisors. </p>
<p>As you still hold out the plate, Vergil’s gaze shifting between the small cake and you, you understand—and smile gently. You place it down in front of him on the bartop without a word. <em> He deserves this </em>. So you pick up the metal spoon and carefully cut a small portion, lifting it up to his lips as if to reaffirm that this is real and tangible. </p>
<p>It takes a slight moment before everything clicks into place, but then Vergil blinks and parts his lips. You slip the cake in, and pull the spoon out slow. </p>
<p>Then you hand it back over into his grip, letting him take control. You sit on the stool next to him and watch. </p>
<p>The chewy texture of his next bite is warm, and the ganache inside is gooey. Fudgy cream layers in the middle are laced with mint. The cake itself is moist and delicious. But it’s the bittersweet, dark chocolate frosting covering the outside in a thick, dripping shell that really sells it: It’s sophisticated, even if the round cake is decorated to look like a cutesy brown deer. </p>
<p>“Well?” you ask him patiently after a couple more bites, egging on a response but not wanting to be too forceful. You sit eagerly with your hands folded in your laps. </p>
<p>His lips twinge up with the barest of smiles. “It's...<em> divine </em> ,” he says earnestly, giving a curt nod. He thinks maybe <em> sublime </em> would be a better descriptor, even. Half of the dessert is already done by now considering the small size, but Vergil sets his utensil down and wipes his face carefully with the tip of his napkin. </p>
<p>You beam, and then he speaks up again before you can—</p>
<p>“...Thank you.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Send requests <a href="https://forms.gle/MiZoZqePSLne2kLy6">here</a> or <a href="https://chocosweets.tumblr.com/ask">here</a>! 🧁<br/><a href="https://chocosweets.tumblr.com/masterlist">Masterlist</a> 🧁<br/><a href="https://chocosweets.tumblr.com">Tumblr</a> 🧁</p></blockquote><div class="children module" id="children">
  <b class="heading">Works inspired by this one:</b>
  <ul>
    <li>
        <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30641615">Sweeter than rations</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crimson_Cupcake/pseuds/Crimson_Cupcake">Crimson_Cupcake</a>
    </li>
  </ul>
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